Elective

[Fr. électif, from L. Lat. electivus.] Dependent on choice; bestowed or pa ing by election; pertaining to, or consisting in, choice or right of choosing; exerting the power of choice. Elective affinity. (Chem.) This signifies the order of preference, as it were, in which substances combine; thus, if nitric acid be added to a mixture of lime and magnesia, it will elect or choose to combine with the lime in preference to the magnesia. See AFFINITY. Elective government. ( Polit .) A government in which all functionaries, from the highest to the lowest, are chosen by the suffrages of a greater or le number of citizens. Of these, the government of ancient Athens, and in modern times that of the U. S., will serve as examples. When the functionaries of an elective government are chosen by a very great number, or by aill the people, as in this country, it is a democracy ; and when by a comparatively small number, it is either an aristocracy or an oligarchy . Electively, adv. By choice; with preference of one to another.